The man accused of facing 740 charges Gerhard Ackerman, ranging from rape, attempted murder, distribution of child porn, and human trafficking of minor children for sexual exploitation was arrested yesterday after jumping bail on Thursday.
Gerhard Ackerman went on the run after pleading not guilty to all the charges and was on bail of R6 000 at the time.
On the run
Police placed him under arrest yesterday morning after he was spotted and grabbed by members of the public at the Florida Junction shopping centre in Roodepoort.
“The role played by the South African media in his apprehension must be applauded as the images circulated by the media led to members of the public spotting Ackerman in Florida, in the west of Johannesburg,” said NPA spokesperson Phindi Mjonondwane.
“They immediately arrested him and called the local South African Police Service (SAPS) officials who acted swiftly to effect the warrant of arrest.”
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Founder and Director of Woman and Men against Child Abuse (WMACA) Miranda Jordan said the attempt to escape justice by Ackerman was a clear admission of guilt.
Jordan said the case highlighted the distorted human rights issue we have in the country.
“The rights of the offenders are trumping the rights of the victims by far, and we have made no progress toward recognizing the supremacy of the rights of victims in the system. It appears the rich and powerful are even more so immune to the might of the law, as we do not believe Ackerman would have received bail had it not been for the influence of his co-accused, Paul Kennedy,”she said.
“It is our opinion that the NPA should have submitted an application to have his bail revoked at the last court hearing given the weight of the charges against him. In retrospect, Ackerman should have never been granted bail in the original case in the Alexandra Magistrate Court.”
Blame on the police
“When the matter in Alex appeared before the court, he already had prior offences and other pending matters against him. This should have been indicative of his non-eligibility for bail in the first place.”
A legal expert says the disappearance of alleged child sex ring kingpin Gerhard Ackerman’s blame should be placed on the doors of the police for failing sure he does not abscond.
Another legal expert believed R6000 bail might have been a small price to pay for someone charged with such crimes.
Ackerman stands accused of running a child sex ring with the late acting judge and Commission of Inquiry into State Capture evidence leader Paul Kennedy.
The pair allegedly worked together to sexually groom, rape, and expose young boys to pornographic material between September 2020 and July 2021.
Ackerman was out on bail on a similar charge in the Wynberg Magistrate’s Court on two separate counts of sexual assault of a minor involving two young boys in 2018 before the Johannesburg Magistrates’ Court granted him bail in 2021.
At the time of his arrest in 2018, 253 videos were allegedly found on Ackerman’s cellphone and an additional 386 images on his laptop of child pornography.
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Mpumelelo Zikalala of Zikalala Attorneys said this should serve as a wake-up call to the police in ensuring they change the type of systems they use to track those out on bail.
“If the person doesn’t appear on the second day, then go look for him. The reason the court said he should report to the police station every day was that they saw that they might be a possibility for him to abscond.”
Accomplice
He said it should not be ruled out Ackerman was assisted by one of his clients who did not want to be an accomplice to the matter.
“You might find that there are some who are married and do not want to risk their families knowing and to make sure they are not part and parcel, they would make sure he disappears,” he said.
Head of the criminal department at Ulrich Roux and Associates JP Venter said although bail the purpose of bail was to secure a person’s appearance in court rather than to punish someone; R6000 might have been a small price to pay.
“Normally the bail is made to be an amount you cannot afford to lose. R6000 might have been a small price to lose. I wouldn’t think twice about running away and losing R6000 because that is not a lot of money at all,” Venter said.
